Versatile Panthers run past Freeman

LINCOLN - The Freeman boys basketball team couldn't stop what it couldn't catch.

Leigh used its lightning fast transition game and a relentless offensive attack to pull away from the Falcons for a 74-58 victory in the first round of the Class D-1 state tournament Thursday at Lincoln Southwest.

Freeman coach Jon McLaughlin said he's faced plenty of tall lineups this season, but few teams compare to the Panthers' overall athleticism.

“We've seen some athletic teams in our conference, but these guys were very good in transition,” McLaughlin said. “They are athletic, and they are a whole 'nother beast than what we've seen as far as the transition game. Their parts are so interchangeable. Their posts can handle the ball and their guards can go inside and post up.”

Nerves plagued Leigh early, and it fell behind 7-1 two minutes into the game. The Panthers got on track after a 3-pointer by Jeremy Gall, and then scored on 13 of the next 14 possessions for a 27-20 lead in the second quarter. During the spurt Leigh scored five times in 10 seconds or less.

“I didn't think our first quarter was very good. We started with a lot of jitters,” Leigh coach Jason Brown said. “We were here last year, but I thought we were tight to start. We had a (two-point) lead at the end of the first quarter, and then we started taking over.”

In addition to finding its offensive rhythm, Leigh also stepped up on defense and frustrated the Falcons' shooters. After Elliot Mencl, who finished with 17 points, connected on two 3-pointers in the first quarter, the Panthers went with a man-to-man defense the rest of the way and limited Freeman to 2-for-11 shooting in the second period.

“I made a mistake of playing too much zone in the first half, and they hit a bunch of 3s on us,” Brown said. “We should have stuck with solid man the entire time.”

Eventually, the Panthers' inside game took over. Leigh shot 55.3 percent from the field and scored 38 points in the paint against an undersized Freeman team. The Falcons' roster features just two players taller than 6-foot, meaning Leigh, which fields a starting lineup of 6-2 or taller, could create a mismatch in the post almost every possession.

Jake McMullin used his size and strength to establish position on the block against 5-foot-10 Ryan Busboom, the brother of former Nebraska volleyball standout Dani Busboom. McMullin scored eight points in the second quarter and added six more in the third period on his way to a game-high 23 points.

“We wanted to attack them and go inside all day,” Brown said. “We figured Busboom would be guarding Jake, and we were going inside and attack him.”

The Leigh posts, McMullin and Gall, combined to shoot 16-for-23 from the floor. Gall finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Hollatz added 11 points, while point guard Seth Wendt chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.

Freeman hung around in the third quarter, but couldn't get close enough to threaten the Panthers. When the Falcons cut the deficit to six or seven points, Leigh answered with quick buckets.

“The bottom line is we gave them a lot of easy things and great teams make you play for that,” McLaughlin said.

The Panthers were scheduled to face Loomis in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. today at the Pershing Center. Last year, Leigh had an opportunity to advance to the state championship game, but Axtell scored the final six points of the game and won 47-41.

Freeman (16-10) 18 8 13 17 - 58

Leigh (21-2) 20 13 17 24 - 74

n Freeman-Andrew Goracke 0-1 0-0 0 0, Elliot Mencl 6-6 3-5 4 17, Jacob Unvert 0-2 2-2 1 2, Ryan Busboom 4-15 0-0 4 8, Josh Rapp 3-10 2-2 5 9, Jerod Nieveen 0-1 2-2 2 2, Justin Yates 5-16 3-4 2 13, Eric Rapp 0-0 2-2 0 2, Kyle Schlake 2-2 1-2 2 5, Max Weber 0-0 0-0 1 0. Totals 20-53 15-19 19 58.

n Leigh-Scott Muhle 0-0 0-2 0 0, Seth Wendt 3-5 2-2 1 8, Jarrett Koch 0-0 2-2 0 2, Ty McMullin 0-1 1-2 1 1, Jake McMullin 9-13 5-7 4 23, Dylan Went 0-0 0-0 1 0, Grant Wiemer 2-3 1-2 1 5, Reed Janousek 1-4 2-2 0 4, Nick Hollatz 3-7 4-6 2 2, Marcus Urban 1-4 2-2 1 4, Jeremy Gall 7-10 0-4 3 16. Totals 26-47 19-31 14 74.

n 3-point goals: Freeman 3 (Mencl 2, J. Rapp), Leigh 3 (Hollatz, Gall 2).